Yahoo acquires TV check-in app IntoNow

Yahoo announced today that it's acquired IntoNow, a nifty little mobile application that will detect what you're watching on TV and then let you share via Twitter or Facebook that you're watching it. The price was either $13 million or as much as $30 million, depending on which tech blog you prefer to believe. (Oh, wait, now it's $17 million and some earnouts, or something. Money!) Financial terms were not disclosed.

IntoNow launched only 12 weeks ago and has just seven employees: "We were all surprised to say the least but it makes a ton of sense and we're ready to rock," a blog post today read.

The "social TV-watching" space is a crowded one, with start-ups like GetGlue and Miso (another, Tunerfish, was built internally at Comcast) scrambling to add new features and sign deals with entertainment brands. GetGlue appears to have some early traction, but it's still hard to tell how things will pan out in the long run.

Yahoo, in its bid to reinvent itself as a company that meshes news and entertainment content with tech expertise, is not a surprising buyer for a social TV application; its Yahoo TV portal is a company mainstay. Interestingly, the company ditched traditional TV listings on Yahoo TV (the only reason I ever went there) this month, which I discovered in the most unpleasant manner when I was trying to find when the "Game of Thrones" pilot would be rebroadcast. "As of April 1st, Yahoo no longer offers TV show listings as a feature of our TV site," a message explained, despite that "TV Listings" is still an option on the Yahoo TV navigation bar. "If you are still interested in utilizing TV listings, please visit TV Guide."